Paradise Under Your Feet — Page 143
Appendix 1: Establishing Salat Through the Ages 143 Always include young children in congregational Salat at home and at the mosque. Teach them that the time for Salat is a quiet time and encourage them to sit beside you. However, at the mosque, care should be taken not to disturb the Salat of others if the child begins to cry or becomes noisy during Salat. Toddlers should not be allowed to walk through the lines of worshippers while the mother offers her Salat. She should either hold the child or remove the child from the Salat area and offer her Salat in a separate room, or afterwards. Salat during the Elementary Years When children are as young as three years of age, they can start memorizing short Surahs and some of the parts of the Salat. It is possible that a child may know the entire Salat by age five. It is the responsibility of both parents to encourage children to learn the Salat at a young age. When children are four or five years old, a mother can offer Salat with them and recite the entire Salat aloud so that the children learn it simply by listening. Even the Zuhr and Asr Prayers can be whispered quietly so that the children are reminded of the words. Mothers can also begin to teach children the meanings of Salat and stress the purpose and importance of Salat. If the child is not ready to learn the translation of each word, he/she can be taught the general meaning of the prayers. By telling the child that Salat is the way we thank Allah Almighty for all He gives us, the mother can encourage a connection and love for Allah Almighty. At this stage, it will be important to teach the etiquette of Salat. The best way to teach the correct way to perform Wudu (ablution) is for parents to perform Wudu with their children so that the importance of it can be stressed. Care should be taken to teach children the correct form of each Salat posture and to see that each is practiced properly.